The holiday season is a time for celebration, family gatherings, and making lasting memories. For parents of children with a cochlear implant, it’s essential to ensure that the festivities don’t hinder their child’s listening and language skills but contribute to them. This article provides four practical cochlear implant rehabilitation activities that can help your child thrive during this joyful season.

Following a diagnosis of hearing loss in a child, it is common for families to seek information and advice about how to communicate with their child and support their child’s development. Although some families that choose a cochlear implant for their child may have to wait a while before implantation, their child’s development doesn’t have to wait.

Baby Talk, also known as “parentese,” is known to be helpful for all babies and infants (0 – 18 months), not just babies with typical hearing, in the development of communication skills. Parentese attracts and maintains infants' attention and aids in language learning.

Being socially engaged and making friends in childhood is important for psychological well-being and is positively associated with academic success. Parents of children with hearing implants can support development of their child’s social skills by creating opportunities to build relationships with peers and by practicing these skills in structured situations. Here are some tips to develop your child’s social skills and help them make friends.

As a parent, preparing your child for cochlear implant surgery can seem overwhelming. With these recommendations for what to do before, during, and after surgery, you can feel informed and ready so you and your child are calm and comfortable on surgery day.

How will my child manage the school environment? Will they be able to follow the lessons? Will they make friends? These are just some of the questions that parents may ask themselves before their child starts school. Guiding your child through this period so they feel confident when starting school is essential for the social and academic success of children with CIs. Here are tips on how to prepare your child for their first day of school.